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Follow UsKnown for being a well-rounded middle-order batter, 29-year-old Jason Smith has been handed a maiden international call-up on the back of an outstanding CSA T20 Challenge for the Dolphins.
A fantastic CSA T20 2024 campaign saw Smith amass 291 runs at an average of 41.57 and a strike rate of 133.5. He only passed the 50-run mark once but broke his way into the national side by showcasing spectacular consistency, crossing the 25-run mark in seven of his 12 knocks in the competition. Remarkably, across his last five knocks in the CSA T20 2024, Smith got dismissed only once.
South Africa’s middle-order is stacked with established big hitters, but the likes of Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller getting rested could open the door for the right-hander to make his international debut.
Despite making his T20 debut back in 2014, however, Smith, weirdly enough, is still someone finding his feet at the T20 level. He averages only 28.65 in all T20s, with a strike rate of just 123.48.
It’s been at the first-class level that the 29-year-old has shone more, with his average in red-ball cricket since 2021 reading 44.83. He is also someone capable of bowling medium pace, but the right-armer hasn’t bowled in T20s since 2022.
Patrick Kruger has already made a T20 International appearance for South Africa but is still a relatively new face when it comes to international cricket.
Kruger is not only a lower middle-order batter capable of using the long handle and tonking big hits, but is also someone that bowls very useful medium pace.
The 29-year-old represented title winners Sunrisers Eastern Cape in SA20 2024 and made several handy contributions with both bat and ball. He played a key hand in two victories: with the bat (26* off 7) in a tight chase against Paarl Royals and a flawless spell (3/8) against Joburg Super Kings.
Kruger also had a very good CSA T20 Challenge 2024, representing the Warriors, taking 13 wickets at an economy of 7.70 while striking at 163.15 with the bat in hand.
Unlike Smith, however, Kruger will not be competing for a spot in the top five. He will likely take Marco Jansen’s spot in the side at No.7. Jansen, who has been rested for this series.
The individual whose call-up has made the most buzz, Kwena Maphaka, is a name that the mainstream is already familiar with, thanks to his appearance in the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Though Maphaka was underwhelming in IPL 2024 representing Mumbai Indians (MI), the fact that he became the youngest-ever debutant for the five-time champions was itself a testament to his talent.
Still only 18, Maphaka is someone that’s been picked purely on potential. The left-arm speedster has played only 11 T20s in his young career and has taken 14 wickets at an economy of 8.00.
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But he showed a real glimpse of his talent in the 2024 CSA T20 Challenge, picking seven wickets in the four appearances he made at a remarkable economy of 6.50.
This showing in the CSA T20 Challenge, where he represented the Lions, preceded a record-breaking campaign in the 2024 U19 World Cup, where he picked up 21 wickets at a stupendous average of 9.71.
It was a historic campaign because no bowler in history has picked up as many five-wicket hauls in a single U19 WC campaign (3). Maphaka is also the joint-most successful bowler in U19 WC history, with 28 scalps to his name in U19 WCs overall.
At 18, Maphaka is already a tearaway capable of breaching the 140-145 kph mark. Should he debut in the West Indies T20Is, all the attention will unquestionably be on the teenage sensation.
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